Rick Dantzler

Rick Dantzler
A portrait photograph featuring the suited bust of a caucasoid man, facing and smiling at the camera.
Dantzler (c. 2014)
Born January 1956 (age 62)
Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, US
Nationality United States
Education Bachelor of Arts (1978)
Juris Doctor (1981)
Alma mater University of Florida
Occupation Lawyer
Employer Citrus Research and Development Foundation
Home town Winter Haven, Florida
Salary US$155,000
Height 6 ft 4 in (193 cm)
Title Chief operating officer
Political party Democratic
Spouse(s)
Julie Pope (m. 1984)
Florida State Executive Director
of the Farm Service Agency
In office
January 13, 2014 – January 20, 2017
President Barack Obama
Preceded by Debby Folsom
Member of the Florida Senate
from the 13th & 17th district
In office
1990 – January 6, 1998
Governor Bob Martinez
Lawton Chiles
Member of the Florida House of Representatives
from the 43rd district
In office
1982–1990
Governor Bob Graham
Wayne Mixson
Bob Martinez

Rick Dantzler (born January 1956) is an American lawyer and former Florida politician. From Winter Haven, Dantzler was elected to four two-year terms (1982–1990) in the Florida House of Representatives, and one eight-year term (1990–1998) in the Florida Senate. Running mate to Buddy MacKay in the 1998 Florida gubernatorial election, both men lost to Jeb Bush and Frank Brogan. From 2014–2017, Dantzler was President Obama's appointed Florida State Executive Director of the Farm Service Agency, and has considered re-entering politics if crowdfunding to do so was viable.

Born into a family of politicians, Dantzler is a lawyer, writer, sports enthusiast, and Presbyterian. With his wife Julie (née Pope), Dantzler has two daughters who specialized in medicine and primary education. A member of the Florida Bar since 1983, Dantzler was specializing in agricultural law at the Victor Smith Law Group law firm as of May 2018. In July 2018, Dantzler was hired as chief operating officer of the Lake Alfred, Florida-based Citrus Research and Development Foundation.

Personal life

Born on Fort Leonard Wood on January 2 or 6, 1956,[1][2] Dantzler was raised in Winter Haven, Florida as a third-generation Floridian.[3] His father was mayor of Winter Haven while Dantzler was a child, an office to which his younger brother Brad was appointed in January 2016. Another brother—Todd Dantzler—was serving as a Polk County, Florida commissioner in early 2016.[4]

Dantzler met Julie Pope in 1982 during his first run for the Florida House of Representatives.[1] The daughter of water skier and Florida business leader Dick Pope Jr.,[5] Pope was described by the Sun-Sentinel as "a hometown girl, [and] the well-to-do granddaughter of the founder of Winter Haven's Cypress Gardens tourist attraction." Dantzler and Pope wed in 1984. They have two children: as of February 2013, older daughter Elizabeth (born 1985 or 1986)[1] was a medical school student,[5] and the younger Margaret (born 1989 or 1990)[1] was a primary school teacher in Atlanta.[5] According to his Florida House of Representatives biography, Dantzler is a Presbyterian.[2]

Dantzler enjoys writing, having written articles for newspapers and magazines, as well as three historical fiction novels.[3] One novel, 2002's Under the Panther Moon, is a collection of short stories about Florida environmental issues.[6] Having joined the board of the Florida Sports Hall of Fame in 2006, he was serving as that body's president as of September 2014.[7] Standing at 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m),[1] in a June 1998 public disclosure of his health records, Dantzler revealed his diagnoses of Gilbert's syndrome and post-nasal drip, and that he was otherwise in good health.[8]

Education

At Winter Haven High School, Dantzler played quarterback on the school's American football team, and was the baseball team's "star shortstop".[1]

Dantzler attended both the University of Puget Sound[2] and the University of Florida. He received a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the latter in 1978, as well as his Juris Doctor in 1981.[3] At the University of Florida, Dantzler was a member of Florida Blue Key and Alpha Tau Omega.[2]

Political career

Florida Legislature

House of Representatives

When Dantzler returned to Winter Haven in 1981, scuttlebutt was that the local state representative, Democrat Bob Crawford was considering a run for the Florida Senate, but because he wouldn't publicly commit, it was stopping other Democrats from running for his House seat. Dantzler instead approached Crawford in the representative's office, and said plainly "I was ready to run for the House and wanted to know what he was going to do". When Crawford finally admitted his senatorial plans,[1] Dantzler ran for his 43rd District seat and beat Republican Bill Siegel in the 1982 election with 60.1% of the vote.[9] Dantzler served in the House until 1990,[2] being reelected to that post thrice.[6]

1982, State Representative, District 43[9]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Rick Dantzler 11,364 60.1
Republican Bill Siegel 7,555 39.9

For his 1984 run to retain his seat from the 43rd District, Dantzler ran unopposed in both the Democratic primary and the general election.[10]

Senate

Dantzler in 1990

In 1990, Dantzler was elected to the Senate seat for District 13, defeating Republican Ernie Caldwell with 51.1% of the vote;[11] this vacancy was also Bob Crawford's doing, as the Democratic senator was now running for Florida Commissioner of Agriculture.[1] While in the Senate, Dantzler forged "landmark laws", including his proudest achievement, negotiating 1994's Everglades Forever Act as chairman of the Senate Natural Resources Committee. Fellow Senate Democrat Howard Forman would describe Dantzler as "a mediator, […] He was known in the Senate as a master healer who could bring everyone together." Senator Dantzler also "voted with the conservative Christian Coalition on the issues that were important to it 89 percent of the time."[1] Dantzler served in the Senate until resigning from representing District 17 in 1998.[12]

Run for governor

In 1998, Dantzler began his campaign for the Florida governorship. So enthusiastic was he for his son-in-law's campaign, Dick Pope Jr. held Dantzler's official campaign announcement at Cypress Gardens,[5] the botanical garden and amusement park founded by Dick Pope Sr. in 1936.[13]

A gubernatorial candidate for the Democratic Party's primary in 1998,[14] it was January 6, 1998 when Senator Dantzler resigned from office. Dantzler said he left office to preempt campaign finance improprieties that could arise due to his influence in the March 3, 1998 legislative session. Fellow Democrat, Representative J. Keith Arnold, called this a smokescreen gesture that would allow Dantzler more time than his opponents to fundraise; while political historian Edmund Kallina said the move was probably equally calculated to grab headlines, it actually "[was] an indication of weakness rather than strength. It's an admission that [Florida Lieutenant Governor Buddy] MacKay has much better fund-raising capabilities."[12] By May 30, 1998, Dantzler's polling numbers for the September primary were trailing behind those of Lieutenant Governor MacKay, the latter of whom had raised approximately US$2,200,000 (equivalent to $3,303,144 in 2017) by that same date.[14]

Dantzler joined the campaign of Buddy MacKay (pictured) as the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor in June 1998.

According to Florida Democratic Party insiders, it was late June when Dantzler—behind in polls and suffering fundraising difficulties—approached Lieutenant Governor MacKay about joining forces for the Democratic primary. Governor Lawton Chiles finagled the deal, and on June 30 in a downtown Tallahassee park, the two men announced their new joint ticket. Supporters of the new joint venture expected Dantzler would provide "aggressiveness in building a campaign structure […] to challenge [Jeb] Bush" as well as "youth and vitality, […] something Buddy [MacKay] sorely needed". Meanwhile, Representative Arnold said he would stay in the primary race, calling the MacKay–Dantzler ticket "a political marriage" that wouldn't help either man's chances in the election.[15]

Despite the political endorsement of the Sun-Sentinel,[16] MacKay and Dantzler ultimately lost the November 3, 1998 election to Jeb Bush and Frank Brogan.[5]

Farm Service Agency

In 2013, then-president of the United States Barack Obama asked for Dantzler's service in the executive-appointed position of Florida State Executive Director of the Farm Service Agency.[3] When initially approached, Dantzler later admitted, "I honestly didn’t know much about it. […] I decided to look into it, and the more I learned about the profound impact the Farm Agency has, the more interested I became." The agency's responsibilities included the United States Department of Agriculture's programs concerned with Florida's environment, minority farmer outreach, and agriculture emergency response; these issues' importance to Florida are what Dantzler said impelled him to accept the appointment and take over the office from the outgoing Debby Folsom.[6]

The 57-year-old lawyer accepted the president's appointment in 2013,[3] and served from January 13, 2014[6] through President Obama's last three years in office.[3] As the executive director's office was located in Gainesville, Florida, Dantzler's family stayed in Polk County, Florida while the new appointee became one of the estimated 456 residents of McIntosh, Florida:[6][17] a town approximately 20 miles (32 km) from Gainesville. In his new position, Dantzler looked forward to working with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to combat citrus greening disease and to resolve labor issues.[6]

Soon after his appointment, Dantzler worked with US Congressional Representative Ted Yoho to soften or delay the effects the Agricultural Act of 2014 would have on Floridian peanut farmers who could not secure crop insurance due to the federal Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002.[18]

Further political activity

After his run for the lieutenant-governorship, Dantzler made an aborted run for Florida Commissioner of Agriculture. The Ledger said in 2013 that he dropped from the race partly because of the pay-to-play requirements of urban county political parties.[5]

In 2013, Dantzler spoke with The Ledger saying of politics, "I think about it every day. I miss it a lot." Dissatisfied with the products of Tallahassee, Florida and Washington, D.C. politics, the former state senator admitted to "trying to write down an agenda just in case I went back" into politics. Dantzler invoked Lawton Chiles' 1990 gubernatorial campaign, where the former US senator won the election having fund-raised with "$10 and $100 donations. If I ever thought I could do that, man I'd be off and running."[5]

As of January 2017, Dantzler had applied with President of the Florida Senate Joe Negron to become one of his nine appointees to the 37-person 2018 Florida Constitutional Revision Commission.[19]

Apolitical work

Dantzler was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1983.[3] Prior to accepting appointment to the FSA position, Dantzler led the Tampa/Winter Haven, Florida branch of Morgan & Morgan's Business Trial Group.[6] As of May 2018, he worked for the Winter Haven, Florida law firm Victor Smith Law Group, specializing in agricultural law, representing property owners, mediation, environmental law, and "general civil litigation".[3]

On July 24, 2018, Dantzler was hired by the Citrus Research and Development Foundation (CRDF)—"the leading agency overseeing scientific research against [cirtus] greening"—as their new chief operating officer, a position carrying a US$155,000 annual salary. In this role, Dantzler will administer the CRDF's US$16,000,000 (July 2018 – June 2019) budget as well as "improve communications with Florida’s growers on the foundation’s work and value." Dantzler was the CRDF board's second choice for the position after Elizabeth Stobierski withdrew from consideration.[20]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Nevins, Buddy (1998-10-25). "Sure-footed Politician Faces Uphill Challenge". Sun-Sentinel. ISSN 0744-8139. Archived from the original on 2017-05-30. Retrieved 2018-06-25.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Florida House of Representatives - Rick Dantzler - 2016 - 2018 ( Speaker Corcoran )". Florida State Capitol: Florida House of Representatives. Archived from the original on 2018-04-13. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Rick Dantzler – Victor Smith Law". Winter Haven, Florida: Victor Smith Law Group. Archived from the original on 2018-04-13. Retrieved 2018-05-08.
  4. ↑ Fantozzi, Madison (2016-01-11). "Dantzler now Winter Haven mayor; Chichetto, mayor pro tem". The Ledger. Winter Haven, Florida: Kevin Drake. ISSN 0163-0288. OCLC 187953892. Archived from the original on 2018-05-14. Retrieved 2018-05-14. City commissioners Monday appointed Brad Dantzler as mayor and Pete Chichetto as mayor pro tem for this year.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Rufty, Bill (2013-02-19). "One-Time Lt. Gov. Candidate, Dantzler Now Author, Lawyer". The Ledger. Winter Haven, Florida: Jerome Ferson. ISSN 0163-0288. OCLC 187953892. Archived from the original on 2018-05-15. Retrieved 2018-05-15.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Ceballos, John (2014-01-13). "Dantzler Takes the Lead at USDA Agency". The Ledger. Winter Haven, Florida: Jerome Ferson. ISSN 0163-0288. OCLC 187953892. Archived from the original on 2018-05-14. Retrieved 2018-05-14.
  7. ↑ Biography, United States Department of Agriculture, Farm Service Agency (PDF), United States Department of Agriculture, September 2014, archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-02-14, retrieved 2018-05-14
  8. ↑ Kleindienst, Linda (1998-06-26). "Gubernatorial Candidates Bare Health Records _ Warts And All". Sun-Sentinel. ISSN 0744-8139. Archived from the original on 2018-06-08. Retrieved 2018-06-08.
  9. 1 2 "Florida Department of State | Division of Elections | November 2, 1982 General Election". Division of Elections. Tallahassee, Florida: Florida Department of State. 1982-11-02. Archived from the original on 2018-06-25. Retrieved 2018-06-25.
  10. ↑ "District-by-district races for Florida House after primary election". Playground Daily News. Tallahassee, Florida. Associated Press. 1984-09-06. p. 5B.
  11. ↑ "Florida Department of State | Division of Elections | November 6, 1990 General Election". Division of Elections. Tallahassee, Florida: Florida Department of State. 1990-11-06. Archived from the original on 2018-06-25. Retrieved 2018-06-25.
  12. 1 2 Griffin, Michael (1998-01-07). "Dantzler Is Free To Raise Money". Orlando Sentinel. Tallahassee, Florida: Tronc. ISSN 0744-6055. Archived from the original on 2018-04-13. Retrieved 2018-05-09. If He Had Not Resigned From The Senate, He Couldn't Have Taken Donations During The Legislative Session.
  13. ↑ "Two Women on Water Skis Wearing Tutus and White Gloves". World Digital Library. Archived from the original on 2017-07-13. Retrieved 2018-05-15.
  14. 1 2 Neal, Terry M. (1998-05-30). Downie Jr., Leonard, ed. "In Fla. Race, Jeb Bush Finds 'Kinder, Gentler' Plays Well". The Washington Post. Donald E. Graham. p. A01. ISSN 0190-8286. OCLC 2269358. Archived from the original on 2017-11-05. Retrieved 2018-05-10.
  15. ↑ Kleindienst, Linda (1998-07-01). "Mackay, Dantzler Join Political Forces". Sun-Sentinel. ISSN 0744-8139. Archived from the original on 2018-06-21. Retrieved 2018-06-21. Former Foes Vow To Heal Rift In Democratic Party
  16. ↑ "Summary Of Recommendations". Sun-Sentinel. 1998-11-01. ISSN 0744-8139. Archived from the original on 2018-06-25. Retrieved 2018-06-25.
  17. ↑ "American FactFinder". United States Department of Commerce. Suitland, Maryland: United States Census Bureau. December 2016. Retrieved 2018-05-14.
  18. ↑ Clark, Anthony (2014-03-01). "Farm bill could ruin local peanut industry". The Gainesville Sun. ISSN 0163-4925. Archived from the original on 2018-05-24. Retrieved 2018-05-24.
  19. ↑ Klas, Mary Ellen (2017-01-19). "Want a chance to shape Florida's future? Applications accepted". Miami Herald. Tallahassee, Florida: Alexandra Villoch. ISSN 0898-865X. OCLC 2733685. Archived from the original on 2017-10-29. Retrieved 2018-05-14.
  20. ↑ Bouffard, Kevin (2018-07-24). "Former state Sen. Rick Dantzler to lead citrus-research agency in Lake Alfred". The Ledger. Lake Alfred, Florida: Brian Burns. ISSN 0163-0288. OCLC 187953892. Archived from the original on 2018-07-31. Retrieved 2018-10-13.
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